Earl Grey

I'm posting to share my very first Skype class (of many more to come and eventually in-person training) with Sifu Terry on Friday in Manila and Thursday night in Massachusetts. This review/critique/feedback is something I have spent the past several nights sitting on to find the words and state of being to accurately convey the joy, the delight, the wonder, the pleasure, the privilege, and honor of training with Sifu Terry for furthering my studies of Flying Phoenix and several other practices such as Bat Din Gum, Bok Fu Pai, and the unexpected addition of future studies in more forms such as Tao Tan Pai cane form and even some introduction to new stances from Yi Quan. 

To begin, it is very, very hard to believe the vast and encyclopedic knowledge that Sifu Terry has as an individual--some may argue that he is not a real person, but a committee. Thankfully this is not the case, for he is not only a genuine sage, but a humble and exceptionally pleasant human being whose understanding of everything he teaches is matched only by his eagerness to share and uplift every student whom he encounters. If one asks how he has both depth and vastness of knowledge and skill in the healing and martial arts, I am reminded of an old Zen parable where a sage teaches his student that the universe exists within a seed, and the seed exists within the universe, and therefore there is no surprise or mystery when we ask how one man can contain the knowledge of an entire library in his head. 

While I was originally planning to wait for some things to align both financially and emotionally (as well as Mercury Retrograde, which fouls up communications), I decided in the midst of some personal chaos in my life to seek out Sifu Terry for inaugural lessons. I couldn't have made a better choice, and like the other internal arts I have learned, it is not the form I seek out, but I am drawn to the teacher and their character, for they are the mark of the lineage, the system, and personal achievement, and meeting Sifu Terry was like meeting an old friend again. 

After acquainting ourselves with one another, it is very hard to see at times where the border of friendship and instruction lies, for nothing felt like a chore or a class, it simply flowed naturally from instruction to story sharing and a perpetual state of wonder and discovery. The level of dedication to each student, the generosity of time, openness to everyone and kindness in the individual known as Sifu Terry Dunn is what compels me to say that he just may be a living treasure for all of us. 

General comments aside, we specifically started with some Yi Quan postures, then from there, I was playfully brought into my first experience practicing a Bok Fu Pai form, feeling the immense difference in energetic frequencies between BFP and Flying Phoenix (FP). We then reviewed my FP long form from volume 4, then had a display of the complete Bat Din Gum form without the uneven terrain that was showcased in Glacier National Park in a Youtube video earlier this year. As instruction and conversation went on into the night, I rediscovered that childlike amazement and wonder that drew me to my teachers and their practices. Sifu Terry has immense patience as well, for my Internet connection in this country is not known for quality--we had many, many moments where mid-sentence would be cut off for an average of 30 seconds and Sifu Terry was neither irritated nor prevented from saying what needed to be said and imparting what was meant to be learned. 

I'm eagerly awaiting further instructions and encouraging everyone who loves the Flying Phoenix DVD series to have a one-on-one session with Sifu Terry. You won't regret it and like any true adept, cost is irrelevant for such immeasurable value for priceless gifts of both the teachings and to befriend a genuine sage. If the universe has aligned to push us where we need to be, then I am rejoicing in knowing that what drew me to Flying Phoenix's DVD series and this thread and now tutelage with Sifu Terry is where I will continue running towards. I look forward to learning and eventually representing the systems I am seeking to learn under Sifu Terry and continuing to share them with the world, and hope to not only teach, but to have the mastery that allows very few individuals like Sifu Terry to both teach well and connect to everyone studying under him. 

I don't usually make such glowing testimonials contrary to popular belief, but I have definitely been privileged to be mostly exposed to the great ones. In conclusion, I leave with the last line of Casablanca: "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". I hope you all take a moment to widen and deepen your practice through a one-on-one session with Sifu Terry.

Thank you Sifu Terry. I wasn't sure because of how it was worded in an earlier post, but glad that it's clarified to one repetition per breath control sequence. Hope you had a great time at Eastover Estate. Happy Holidays and looking forward to beginning training with you in 2018!

Reposting this question to Sifu Terry or anyone who can answer:

From a question that Cihan mentioned in an earlier post about the Five Flash Meditations on Vol.5, the last one coming from Baat Din Gum: it can be done again and again repeatedly much like Bending the Bows, after one breath control sequence, yes? If so, how many repetitions do you recommend, 18 like in BtB? 

I've read the same book and every book by Eva Wong is wonderful reading. 

On 11/18/2017 at 2:35 AM, vonkrankenhaus said:

"Matriarchy" used to be default.

 

Because women are gestating, birthing, rearing, and feeding all human beings.

 

At that time, humans were living and eating locally, in immediate surroundings.

 

In this setting, woman is "in charge".

 

Once long-distance trading and abstracted "commerce" became widespread, the focus "of value" shifted from the immediate to the distant and long-term. Long overland (or sea) trading require protection, which gives rise to "politics".

 

So after that time, the role and place of women was different.

 

Many women did and do participate in trading and politics, but by nature, they are bigger than these endeavors.

 

Woman understands creation intrinsically, internally.

 

Man always looking outside himself, hence his beginning such long-distance trades, and also looking especially to woman to become a "complete human experience".

 

Of course, this has been abstracted and stretched out of all proportion into so many things - patriarchy, feminism - none of which seem to penetrate anything but very superficial views of this overall phenomena.

 

Fake "society" concepts are at odds with reality - Yeah - no kidding.

 

Woman is the center of human life now just as in the past, but few understand this.

 

And at the center of this, the "uterus", where human is developing - is, originally, "emptiness".

 

It is amazing. 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

When I lived in Tanzania as a Peace Corp Volunteer, one may think that in the rural villages, men hold power and women are oppressed due to the first taste of life a Trainee experiences upon being delivered to their homestay family. 

Married couples in particular were outraged as men were urged to rest because of the assumption that they did all the hard work at sunrise until noon, breaking their backs, and then making decisions about where the child/volunteer can go and where they must not go. The women, still suffering from jet lag, were urged to bring water from the bottom of the hill, chop vegetables and cook, sweep, or watch over the chickens, and if all tasks were done, they would find more work for them. 

Our female volunteers initially found life very difficult to adjust to after coming from the United States. Later on, we all discovered that when doing village projects, the easiest way to find out what the needs of the community came from talking to the grandmothers and mothers, who knew everyone, who made financial decisions, and with one loud and very authoritative order, no man or child could hide or say no. 

My projects were a lot easier for me to understand when working with all the mamas (actually proper Kiswahili term for older women), because the men simply said "Yes" or "No" and then did the work, but the women knew the how and why and who. 

Who really ran the community there? I can't identify if it's patriarchal or matriarchal at that point. All I know is that those who held authority and "soft" power were the women, and frankly without them, I would have been unable to understand how to serve the community since the men seemed fairly content with things as they are even amidst food security, malaria, sexual health issues, and sanitation and hygiene. 

I would like to share with everyone a few insights lately from my personal practice.

1) I am in no rush to learn the forms beyond the DVDs (yet) because the depth of every single form from Vols. 1-5 and 7 are so intense that I really have to schedule my days to keep things flowing and not forget forms. By intensity, I mean that in the very beginning, they feel great and simple, but the more I practice even the basic meditations, the more profound each one is with the layers of development of the psyche. So it's a lot of work with what we already have and am grateful that we have as much as we do now, but echoing SeekerOfHealing, I do get excited at the prospect of the new DVD volumes you've mentioned in the works, Sifu Terry.  And I'm simply waiting for things to align on my end financially so I can begin training with you on Skype and for when I inevitably go to your classes in Santa Monica. 

2) I practice intensely a couple other systems, and one of my students had until yesterday complained that she didn't feel much benefit from it (Wu Qin Xi) after 100 days, but when we practiced together, the power of training together really led to a breakthrough for her. Interestingly enough, we also meditate as a group for Flying Phoenix every new moon and full moon, and for my friends who practice at home, they feel benefits alone and exponential benefits together as a group. Why I bring these two points together is that it's easy to feel benefits in Flying Phoenix, alone or in a group, but with other styles I know, some people have a difficult time feeling the benefits without a group, as individual practice is difficult for them. 

3) I can't emphasize enough the importance of sitting meditation that was mentioned cryptically at least once or twice on this thread when doing Flying Phoenix. If you do not have a silent seated meditation, find one now. Your Flying Phoenix practice will drastically improve, and I can not describe how because it's beyond my ability to accurately convey in words what happens when you sit and when you don't. 

Now, I shall end with a question that Cihan mentioned in an earlier post about the Five Flash Meditations on Vol.5, the last one coming from Baat Din Gum: it can be done again and again repeatedly much like Bending the Bows, after one breath control sequence, yes? If so, how many repetitions do you recommend, 18 like in BtB? 

Enjoy your workshop in DC, Sifu Terry! 

May everyone have fruitful practice! 

EDIT: I recommend traditional Taoist Zuowang, or Golden Flower, which I practice for my meditation primarily, and my secondary seated method is chanting mantras. 

1 hour ago, tao stillness said:

I would like to reply to a few things that Sifu Terry mentioned above.

There is an interesting benefit to "just keep doing it" for chi kung. Eric Isen, the medical clairvoyant who by now has tested many chi kung forms for people all over the world, recently told me that he finds that sticking with a particular chi kung form for a long time is essential because chi kung works in levels. It heals something and then it goes on to another level of work for you in terms of what needs healing/balancing/cleansing. He saw that one form I have been doing daily for 2 years now has been changing my neurons to be able to produce higher states of consciousness. 

I saw online a video of GM Doo Wai recommending people have some form of ginger in their mouth when they perform chi kung so I asked Eric to test that to see if it does increase chi as GM Doo Wai claimed it did. Eric found that it indeed does increase energy. I admit that I have almost always forgotten to use ginger with my chi kung practice even though I have a root of ginger sitting in the fridge. 

I also want to comment on using chi kung to heal colds and flu. I have heard some chi kung teachers warn against doing any chi kung when you have the flu, etc. That makes no sense to me since I literally was cured of a very serious virus over night 4 or 5 years ago by doing 3 and one-half hours of chi kung when laid up in bed. I woke up the next morning with no more chills or fever and was full of so much energy that I was able to chop away at the ice around my car in an attempt to return to work even though I had hardly eaten anything for days. So the idea is to do as much chi kung as your are physically able to when sick like that. 

Adding to this...

I didn't even know I had the flu virus until two weeks ago when after doing my usual martial forms, I coughed up some phlegm. An hour of Flying Phoenix later, my nasal passages cleared and I never would have known I was sick if it weren't for those symptoms I coughed up. I was still able to do calisthenics right after, and the next day was as though I had nothing at all. 

So keep practicing even if you don't feel anything working--it's always working.

@Songshou we are truly fortunate to have you as a member of our thread and community of Flying Phoenix practitioners. The level of insight and analysis that you bring is immense and immeasurable. Thank you for this; we look forward to practicing with you as we do the rest for our family of Flying Phoenix practitioners here. 

15 minutes ago, cihan said:

This forum is really turning a fruitfull bend of its path nowadays. Thank you all for your comments and Sifu Terry for extra gold nugget on that 50 20 10 MSW med.

Just would like to add that Waker upper MSW and sleeper MSW did not effect my sleeping routine as their names suggested. May be I had not congestions on nadis that work on sleep mechanisms, I don't know. What I understand is, healing occurs when individual cells replicate as they are intended by design and not obstructed, and most of the renewing process occur while the organism sleeps. FPCK meds flood the body with chi which encourages natural cell renewing proess as well, and after the meds the body needs rest and sleep . ALL of FPCK meds make me feel needing rest afterwards. Please give Monk Holding Pearl  meditation a chance while you are lying down. It is a good teacher and helper to me when sleep is closing, works surprisingly on upper body, and makes  sleep rather interesting.

 

This is absolutely true; I've entered lucid dreaming states to the point that I could close if I wanted to and still remain in the dream, or close and then go into deep sleep devoid of dreaming too. 

16 hours ago, Aeran said:

I tend to do my quiet sitting practice first thing in the morning, just after getting out of bed, and I find it seems to give a strong "second wind" type effect to the energy built up from the previous day's practice. Just doing basic quiet sitting, calming the mind, relaxing the body and regulating the breath, seems to enhance and prolong the circulation of the FP Qi from whichever practices I was working on the day before.

 

I can't say with absolute certainty that FP has enhanced the effects of my quiet sitting, since I took a break from both practices for so long up until this year (although I suspect that it has - certainly my quiet sitting practice has progressed further than before), but the quiet sitting certainly seems to enhance the FP practice and extend it's effects, as well as those of any other Qigong I did the day before.

 

On a side note, I'm curious if anyone else has practiced MSW1 before sleep and noticed any effect on their dreaming? I've been finding that it induces a very strange state of consciousness when I sleep directly after the practice - not quite lucid dreaming, which would entail awareness off and control over the events of the dream, but more like an "observer effect," where a part of my mind is sitting back from the dream and observing it as you would a movie, while otherwise just sitting and thinking about regular things. It's quite surreal, but not unpleasant. Definitely makes me wonder about the potential for deeper states of consciousness with continued practice of the MSW meditations.

MSW meditations definitely impact my quality of sleep and dreams. Sometimes I feel like I'm plunging into a different world and this is the dream itself when I awaken. 

5 hours ago, Aeran said:

Quick question about the Sleeper meditation ( MSW4: 50 - 20 - 10), are you supposed to put the hands on the knees at the end of each round and then bring them back up for the next one, or do you go straight from one round to the next from the Sky Meditation/"prayer hands" posture and then only rest the palms on the knees when ending the meditation?

 

 

I personally put the hands on the knees at the end of each round to rest based on what I saw, but clarification from Sifu Terry would be fantastic.

14 minutes ago, ridingtheox said:

tonight's long form 37 minutes ... broke a sweat early and continuously to the end,   also i have a strong sense of 

'gauntlet'  about 2 inches above wrist point wrapping both forearms almost the entire form  ... very satisfying energy altho without any color visualization tonight.   This is not my longest form practice,  but close to the 39 min  ... performed against Philip Glass Metamorphoses   

i will be reading I Ching ...

 

peace to all sentient beings

 

 

Wow! That's a really great time! Any chance you'd be willing to show us a video someday possibly? Just being able to witness someone that dedicated and advanced in the skill of doing it that slow is amazing. Also, Glass' Metamorphoses is a wonderful set to practice to, I must say. 

8 minutes ago, BluePhoenix133 said:

Im not even joking i was looking into the spiritual meaning of the color purple only an hour before reading the last two pages of this thread. Been thinking about the color for the last couple of days, one of the songs i listen to has lyrics that go something like... 

''I've come down from the violent skies to save the day
I'm about to reveal the tales of your life
Too many secrets are locked inside your minds
But you're all equal in life, equal in love...''

Still i dont see how useful these synchronicities are, i mean what do i do about it? Its probably just a pointless coincidence no?

Purple and violet are no joke. I and a few people who've chatted have been noticing that sometimes in our practice.

15 minutes ago, cihan said:

 

 

I think Taoguy wanted to speak of vol 5 of short meditations, vol 4 is the long form.

GMDW informs on his DVD s on some moving meditations to do just Taoguy asks, do it once and repeat as you wish, then end it, only take a deep breath between the intervals. But he is not teaching FPCK and maybe it is best to do what the official instructor Sifu Terry says, start fresh when instructed to do so. 

I confess that after some experience  I only do the last flash med on vol 4 with only one breath sequence repeatedly as it is from a different system and design of the form loops naturally like Bendind the Bows

If it is Volume 5, my understanding is just one breath sequence, one round of movements, then close and repeat again, as seen in other forms like for Wind Above the Clouds, but--let's see what Sifu Terry says. You were the one who reminded me that we can do MHP while supine and I missed on the thread before, so let's see.  

3 hours ago, Marblehead said:

Caused me laughter but I "Thank You"ed the post anyhow.

 

Gendao, you do realize a lot of NGOs for development work aren't just composed of foreigners, but locals from the country itself, right? And there are many that are locally founded with international recognition that have both foreign and local staff. Please do not talk about things that require better understanding and try not to derail the thread. 

Welcome. I know there are discussions on all the styles you mentioned. I also think it's a good idea to pick a practice that doesn't just resonate as a form, but you have a good teacher and community that goes along with it too. 

Your Qigong teacher sounds like he knows an eclectic mix of styles. He must be very handsome and talented too. 

There is a specific type of loneliness for people who repatriate or even just visit their passport country after living away for a while. It's beyond reverse culture shock, and I'll share the loneliness I and many of a lot of my friends have experienced returning to the US/UK/Australia/Etc after living in Cambodia/Philippines/Etc.

Let's think of Captain America, for anyone who has seen the movie or reads comics. In the movie, he gets frozen at the height of the Second World War, but his body is preserved in the ice where his plane crashes, and awakens in the modern world (in the movies, he awakens in 2012). This world is not the world he knows: America is not the country he knows anymore, as technology, social norms and values, historical events both major and minor, humor, and maps are no longer the same. It's a big jump 70 years in the future, trying to reconcile how your country has changed into something unrecognizable.

Now, technology, even before everyone had tablets, smartphones, and laptops, has made this happen on a more accelerated scale: being away just for a couple years (ask any Peace Corps Volunteer) and your world changes significantly. 

A story: I visited America in 2014 after being away for a few years living in Cambodia/Indonesia/East Timor/and a few other countries. The last time I specifically went to San Francisco to see my mother was 2010, while the city was still fairly stagnant and boring as everything was closing up and there was nothing more to do. Fast forward to 2014, and more stores are closing, but a lot of my friends have left because it's too expensive, all these new young people are using language I no longer understand because of Silicon Valley with their accelerators, influencers, and contracting words into indecipherable sentences as a result of 140-character limits for posting their verbal diarrhea infecting their everyday speech when talking to people in person. People are more interested in looking at their phones or trying to be funny with sarcasm but saying the same copied and pasted jokes again and again.

Did San Francisco change because of Silicon Valley? Was I a square because I don't know the music or pop culture news and memes that are part of the everyday exposure to everyone else? Was I stupid for not knowing slang or being able to respond with an equally snarky comment to someone who refuses to tell me where the toilet is because he's making fun of me for just asking and confused that I don't know he's referencing some television show I've never heard of that everyone else is watching? The first thought was that no one can go home again, because the locks get changed in your home and someone decides to redecorate it.

No. It was I who had changed even more. I became accustomed to speaking slowly for non-native speakers. I had slow Internet that meant I didn't know Netflix was now an Internet streaming service, and I thought it was still the same company mailing DVDs to people who didn't want to go to Blockbuster. I didn't know about how people were using mobile phones to do everything because of apps that allowed them to order people around to buy groceries for them or drive for them, as I was only using mine for phone calls and text messages, and only recently discovered What's App. The humor I had was based off of cultural differences between I as a westerner with Asian heritage living in Asian countries and having difficulty due to so many differences amongst Khmers/Javanese/Timorese/Illongos/ and my norms, biases, and values, but now humor was about pointing fun at people and bragging about how witty you are online. And this was just San Francisco, because when I got to L.A., I had no idea why restaurant servers were more focused on trying to be funny instead of taking my order or asking simple questions about menu items that they said was made from rat poison or calling me a terrible person for ordering some toast without coffee. 

You can't step into the same river twice. I left America the first time involuntarily in 1995 and returned in 2002, and then left a second time in 2012 only to return in 2014. As of 2014, I have not spent more than two weeks at a time each year in America and have no desire to as my favorite bookstores and cafes close. My friends have people in their circle who make fun of country stereotypes and all think I lived in Thailand only for prostitutes and the fear and loathing life, without realizing that people actually live there trying to do good social work for NGOs or that there is actually a good expatriate entrepreneurial community there. 

For me, the America in my mind was the height of Gen-X in 1995, for the late 1990s are a different era than the early 1990s with the gang violence, Kurt Cobain, the Gulf War, and Super Nintendo. I still can no longer reconcile it with the America I visited in Christmas of 2016, as Millennial and Edger America has different values, different geographical maps, and rode a different wave of experience that defined them and their America. I am a foreigner in my own country not just because I am Asian American, but someone who still can't believe it's the same country that I initially left in 1995. You don't need to be Captain America waking up 70 years in the future--a few years away changes you with the new environment as much as your country changes while you are gone. 

In the Third World Countries I lived and live in, I meet more people like me who are displaced expats from different countries who are forever foreigners in their new country, but anachronistic aliens lost in time. I know one man who hadn't been back to America since Carter was in the White House until the early 2000s, and now has no desire to go back as he reads about the greater influence of technology on social psyche. I know another man who left Germany as a teenager and now in his 30s, can't live in his motherland because he speaks English far more comfortably with other expats more than he speaks German with his parents, and can't live in America due to his citizenship even if most of his friends moved there, so he has opened up a business in Manila. 

Repatriation is exceptional loneliness, because that sense of community that you get from being with people who have been flung out of their home countries willingly or unwillingly who connect to you at the very least from being just as foreign as you. I have more in common with a Belgian guy who grew up in Portugal and the UK living in Bangkok and has no love for his passport country because Thailand is his home now and all his friends are other denizens who have the same sentiment of no desire to return to unfamiliar places that are supposed to be their homelands. I have no commonality with someone just because he's another American, which is why I don't make an effort to be friendly with all these tourists--I care for the long game with the long-term denizens. 

The loneliness of repatriation far exceeds the loneliness of being a foreigner in the Third World, because you can eventually meet people who came to Manila/Dili/Siem Reap/Jakarta like you for whatever reason from whatever country and suddenly share the same disdain for traffic, mosquitoes, visa laws changing every few months, and the joy of sharing the same sardonic suffering. 

I do not care about waiting two weeks camped outside of the Apple store for a new toy when I have to queue up for visa renewal much longer sometimes. I may have a hard time asking for directions to the toilet in Bahasa Indonesia and pidgin English, but I find more effort and genuine care from someone in Bandung than I do from some Bay Area hipster who wants to say something snarky that his friends on Twitter and Reddit just dared him to say to the next customer asking where the toilet was so that he could post my reaction to the list different responses to his wittiness (or lack thereof). I don't laugh when someone makes jokes about Kazakhstan because some unfunny British actor introduced them to a country that they may not know actually exists, because I think of my neighbors who were actually from Kazakhstan who owned a Russian restaurant since they left a year before the Soviet Union split and ended up somewhere in Manila. 

Certainly how I am characterizing what I saw in America in recent visits is not the totality of America, but my world has become so different and my identity is now of the forever foreigner living in a country that is not mine but I call home for now, while the country I originated from is far more exotic to me. This is the loneliness I know, and for people who know what the term Third Culture Kid is, it gets far more complicated. 

There are other practitioners here like Tao Stillness and Cihan who have been practicing a while and answer in place of Sifu Terry for other students, as Sifu Terry is often busy and confirms while also remaining patient for many of the same questions being asked and answered multiple times before throughout these 175 pages.  

I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you the breath control is that on the DVD and there have been typos before both by other students, Sifu Terry, and have all been corrected later on. Happy you're enjoying the long form. It's a personal favorite of mine.  

It is 90 60 5 50 40 as on the DVD. 

If you saw it as 90 60 5 50 30 on this thread, it is a typing error of whoever posted.

The wonderful thing about the ignore option is that I no longer need see posts by people who bombard the forum with morbid drivel. But I also realize that I have more fun not using the option and instead ignoring the ignobleness of what they say since everyone else can already see it. 

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2017/02/08/social-briefing-2-others-see-differently-see/

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2017/02/24/social-briefing-3-4-social-mindsets-3-derail-1-leads-success/

Will the above videos be available on YouTube eventually for those of us who don't have Facebook? 

The secret to living forever is indeed with Drew - when he talks, it feels like it will never end.

Entirely up to you. Plenty of practitioners on this thread live in places like Germany, Netherlands, Australia, the Philippines, Turkey, some Central Asian countries, and Canada. It wouldn't be a problem getting DVDs from Sifu Terry if you order off of taichimania.com.